So ... I just watched "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" ...

[RathDarkblade]

... for the first time. (Yes, I had a deprived teenagerhood). ;-P

All I can say is: what. (But in a good way). It's a wild ride, jaw-droppingly hilarious. The acting is great, the singing ... well, it's not always clear what the words are (especially when Colombia is singing -- her vocal chords feel a bit "pressed", I guess) ... but for this movie, it works. And of course, Tim Curry steals every scene he's in.

And yes, it's obvious why this was rated R. But so what. ;-P

P.S. Did I mention it was hilarious?

Oh, and yes: both the scientist and his "creature" die on the end. I suppose it was inevitable. Poor Victor and Adam, er, Frank and Rocky. Even their deaths were incredibly similar: Victor and Adam die in an inferno, and here, they die of laser-related injuries. (Sorry if that's obvious to everyone else. I just thought about that).

 

[Molokov]

I think nowadays if you show it to teens, they'd think it's pretty tame, but for the 1970s, the R rating was definitely warranted. I think I first saw it when I was 12 (in the very early 90s) and it became one of my favourite musicals - mostly due to the songs, I suspect I didn't really understand the content fully until much later into my adulthood.

Now it's firmly in the "cheesy cult classic" genre, where the people who originally may have been shocked by it find it fairly mild, and that the younger generation may enjoy it for the songs but don't find it nearly as controversial.

But you can also likely understand why it's basically been screened somewhere in the world every week (with crazy audience participation) for the last 40+ years.

 

[Quatermass]

I only watched it for the first time some years back. It's very much an acquired taste, but I acquired it. I actually must confess, I actually preferred the stage version. Some years back, I watched it at QPAC in Brisbane, and the guy who played Frank 'N' Furter (I can't remember his name, but he was the one who replaced Craig McLachlan after sexual harrassment claims) was actually a bit better than Tim Curry. I'm sure you'd say blasphemy and heresy, but that was my opinion.

I do find the audience participation thing fascinating. Plus, aside from Tim Curry, that was also an early role for Patricia Quinn: while she is best known for Rocky Horror, I first saw her as Belasz, a minion to Kane in the Doctor Who story Dragonfire.

 

[Penfold]

Happy to say that the live stage show still has a massive following and is great fun, including audience participation, and worth seeing if you get the chance, Rath.

For anyone who watches reaction videos, professional opera singer and vocal coach, Elizabeth Zharoff (aka The Charismatic Voice), does a full reaction and analysis of the film.

 

[Tonyblack]

I love The Charismatic Voice!

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Very camp but in a fun way.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Happy to say that the live stage show still has a massive following and is great fun, including audience participation, and worth seeing if you get the chance, Rath.

For anyone who watches reaction videos, professional opera singer and vocal coach, Elizabeth Zharoff (aka The Charismatic Voice), does a full reaction and analysis of the film.

Yes, this is the video that got me to finally watch RHPS.

IIRC, I first saw Tim in "Clue" and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. (I loved how he could switch from cultured English gentleman to Borscht Belt comic and back at the drop of a hat).

But RHPS came out before I was born, so I never got a chance to see it in the theatre. *shrug* The word "Horror" in the title also gave me the wrong idea for ages, since I don't enjoy horror films. Of course, now I understand that it was simply parodying horror tropes (especially the Frankenstein films).

Come to think of it, both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (with Gene Wilder as the scientist) came out in 1974, the year before RHPS (which came out in 1975). So why was the mid-70s such a good time for parodies? Just wondering.